Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Assurance visit report: SC475723 1 SC475723

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to nine children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted has taken enforcement action against this home since the last inspection. A monitoring visit on 21 July 2020 resulted in two compliance notices being issued under regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and regulation 40 (notification of a serious event). A second monitoring visit took place on 2 September 2020 which resulted the compliance notices being met.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was appointed in October 2020 and has not yet submitted an application to become registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 22 October 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Requires improvement to be good

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred Assurance visit report: SC475723 2 practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit.

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The care of children

Young people are cared for by staff who know them well. Most young people are making good progress and have developed positive relationships with staff.

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The care of children

Young people’s care plans are updated regularly and contain details about daily routines that are important to them. This supports staff to provide young people with consistent care.

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The care of children

Young people are supported to keep in touch with their families and people who are important to them. For example, staff have arranged for families to meet up in local parks to maintain social distancing measures. Staff educate young people about the COVID-19 pandemic and keep them updated about changes to local restriction measures. This helps to ensure that young people know how to keep themselves safe, while maintaining important links with their families.

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The care of children

All young people are educated at a school run by the same organisation. During the lockdown period, the young people continued to attend school, and this minimised the disruption to their education. All young people have returned to school following the summer holidays, however, some young people are currently struggling to attend regularly. Staff are persistent in encouraging and incentivising young people’s attendance.

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The care of children

Young people have access to a range of activities both in the home and the community. These activities are facilitated by staff in line with local lockdown restrictions. For example, all young people went on a holiday in a caravan during the summer holidays and have enjoyed day trips to theme parks. The manager has also purchased outdoor play equipment for the times when community activities are not permissible.

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The care of children

Staff are encouraging young people to become more independent. They are supporting young people to learn skills that will prepare them for adult life, such as cooking and budgeting. One social worker said, ‘[Young person’s name] is engaging with school and has started talking about the possibility of independent living. She is excited about the future and the choices open to her.’

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The care of children

Young people are listened to and are involved in decisions about their daily care. For example, when young people complained about their bedtimes being too early, the manager took action to introduce a fairer system that was more aligned to their age Assurance visit report: SC475723 3 and support needs. The knowledge that they are listened to helps young people to feel respected and valued.

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The safety of children

Staff are embedding new rules and boundaries with young people. Young people are clearer about what is expected of them and this is having a positive impact on their behaviours. Young people have been more settled and there has been a significant reduction in young people becoming involved in risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing from home.

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The safety of children

The manager has introduced a new incentive scheme for young people. This helps to reinforce positive behaviours. Young people are encouraged to choose personalised incentives that are meaningful to them. One social worker said, ‘The goals and incentives for young people are more realistic now. Incentives are more focused on achieving positive outcomes as opposed to being top of the leader board.’

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The safety of children

Young people’s risk management plans are reviewed after significant incidents. The plans contain clear guidance for staff about the actions they should take to control risks. The manager has assessed the potential risks of COVID-19 to each young person and has put measures in place to safeguard them. Furthermore, missing- from-care protocols consider how the risk of exposure to COVID-19 will be managed on the young person’s return to the home.

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The safety of children

Young people benefit from regular individual key-work sessions, which help them to manage their relationships with other young people and learn to regulate their emotional responses. However, records of these sessions do not consistently capture the young person’s engagement. This makes it difficult to measure the impact of the intervention. Furthermore, records are not always worded in a way that is helpful to the young person. A recommendation has been made to address this.

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The safety of children

At times, some young people present challenging behaviours, and staff have to physically intervene in order to keep young people safe. The manager analyses all records of restraint to ensure staff are operating safely and that lessons are learned from significant incidents. Debriefs are conducted with young people following incidents of restraint, however, the records do not directly capture the feelings and views of the young person. A recommendation has been made to improve practice in this area.

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Leaders and managers

Since the monitoring visit by Ofsted in July 2020, there have been significant changes to the management team at the home. An experienced manager from within the organisation has recently been appointed. The manager is suitably qualified to undertake this role and she is well supported by her senior managers. Assurance visit report: SC475723 4 The manager has a very clear vision for the service and an action plan is in place to drive improvement. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development and she is committed to ensuring young people receive good quality care that meets their individual needs.

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Leaders and managers

Staff express a high level of confidence in the new management team. They spoke positively about the changes and the impact these changes have had on their practice. One member of staff said, ‘I feel like I have started a new job – a job I have always wanted to do.’

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Leaders and managers

The registered provider has struggled to retain staff. Vacancies are covered by members of the existing staff team and this provides young people with some consistency. The manager has recognised this issue and is taking steps to address this. The manager has ensured that there is a contingency plan in place to secure sufficient staffing levels in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 infections at the home.

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Leaders and managers

New staff benefit from a comprehensive induction programme that supports them to learn the skills they need and also to build relationships with young people. For example, new night care staff are initially rostered to work on day shifts to boost their understanding of young people and to start building relationships with them.

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Leaders and managers

Training continues in a variety of formats to ensure ongoing and effective staff development. Staff value the training and say that the manager is very supportive of their continuous professional development. However, the workforce development plan has not been updated with the details of the training that staff have received. This makes it difficult to monitor the development needs of the staff team. A recommendation has been made to address this.

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return to home interview. Homes should

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Recommendations

take account of the information provided by such interviews when assessing risks Assurance visit report: SC475723 5 and putting arrangements in place to protect a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) In particular, the manager should challenge the responsible local authority when return to home interviews are not offered to young people.  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: - detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Statement of Purpose;

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Recommendations

The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11). Specifically, individual keywork sessions should capture the young person’s engagement and views.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Witherslack Group, Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC475723 6 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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